Take DOT and party

DOT marks four years of brewing and blending with a brace of barrelled specials. The first is the catchily-named A Bit of a Barrel Aged Birthday Blend. Well at least you know what you're getting, and why. It pulls together amber ale, red ale and stout and puts them through Irish and American whiskey barrels, with a spell in virgin oak too. The end result is 9.4% ABV and dark brown, shading to black. It smells a little like marker pens and a lot like bourbon. Full-bodied and smooth goes the mouthfeel, which shouldn't be surprising, while the flavour is remarkably well-integrated. There's a cola sweetness and a herbal vermouth seasoning; oaky vanilla and splashes of caramel and coffee, all of which sounds busy, but isn't really. It is thick, though, and can get a little cloying if you try to drink it too fast. I was glad I put it in a tumbler and took my time relaxing into it. This is definitely a beer to explore slowly, sip by sip.

That hors d'oeuvre is followed by, well, dessert, I guess: Barrel Aged Birthday Cake. It's just an imperial milk stout. Aged in rum, sherry and single malt whiskey casks. With added cocoa nibs and coffee. Simples. The roast is big in the aroma, and there's a distinct sourness too, which is a surprise for a purported "chocolate cake in a glass". Sure enough on tasting it's very thin for 10.7% ABV, with almost a vinegar tang: the balsamic quality of highly attenuated dark beers. The chocolate is there to an extent, and the coffee less so; the whole thing is quite spirituous and burny. Cake it is not. Stout it is barely. This doesn't taste very celebratory to me, and certainly not when compared to the previous. One for the hardcore barrel-fans only, perhaps.

Happy birthday DOT. Keep those busy yeasties under control, eh?